Planetary Ruin

Upon first glance you may think that a solar trash can is an extravagance municipalities can certainly do without, but perhaps we need to take a closer look. The BigBelly is a self-powered compacting trash receptacle. Instead of drawing electricity from the power grid this trash can uses solar power for 100% of its energy. From the company: “The unit takes up as much space as the ”˜footprint’ of an ordinary receptacle—but its capacity is five times greater. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. BigBelly also provides cost efficiencies from labor savings, fuel cost and maintenance savings, as well as environmental benefits from reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.”

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush plans to announce on Wednesday an intermediate goal to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, but will not make specific proposals, the White House said on Tuesday.

Bush will “articulate a realistic intermediate goal for reducing greenhouse gasses” and press for incentives for technology aimed at cutting emissions, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

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Wayne, N.J.—Changing your car’s motor oil is an important part of maintaining engine protection and performance. However, Earth911.com states most people do not realize that what is done after the oil change is just as important. With National Car Care month and Earth Week approaching in April, Castrol and Earth911.com are making sure the potential environmental impact of automotive maintenance is top of mind for car owners nationwide.

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A new approach is able to create a dramatic improvement in cheap solar cells now being developed in laboratories.

By using a popcorn-ball design — tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres — researchers at the University of Washington are able to manipulate light and more than double the efficiency of converting solar energy to electricity. The findings were presented in New Orleans at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society April 10.

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OSLO (Reuters) - The world’s top greenhouse gas emitters meet in Paris this week to work out ways to slow global warming with uncertainty about whether the U.S.-backed talks will help or hinder plans for a new U.N. climate treaty.

Washington says the April 17-18 meeting, with a workshop on sectoral industrial greenhouse targets on Wednesday, is a step towards agreement by the end of 2008 on curbs by countries that emit 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases.

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